Monocycle-vehicle



C. POMILIO.

MONOCYCLE VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED 'Aums, 1918.

1,3745761. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Fly. 1.

A UR/VAFVS C. POMILIO.

MONOCYCLE VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FIL ED AUG. 8, 1918- 1,374,761. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

CARLO POMILIO, OF ROME, ITALY.

MONOGYCLE-VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 8, 1918. Serial No.249,038.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, CARLO Poi/11.10, engineer, a subject of the King of Italy, and residing at Rome, in the Kin dom of Italy, have invented new anduseful lmprovements in Monocycle-Vehicles- I a The present invention refers 'to improvements in monocycle vehicles intended for the transport of passengers vor materials on open land destitute of roads, the same being protected against external attacks, and provided also with means of offense when needed. It is shaped as a large roller or hollow drum of great diameter and of a width sufficient to contain the driving plant, the materials or passengers to be carried, powerful means of offense, and the necessary crew.

The forward movement is obtained by means of a heavy internal mass carrying the driving plant and compelling the large external drum to roll over the land through a continual displacement of the center of gravity. The said heavy mass may be arranged free within the roller so as to roll and climb continuously on the internal surface of the latter, thus directly setting up the rolling, but according to the present invention, it is preferred to have the heavy mass act on the drum through an interposed gear, the mass itself consisting of a frame carrying the motor,-'and other loads, such frame being suspended within the drum and hanging like a pendulum from a large hollow shaft integral with same and which extends through all the width of the drum to which the movement is transmitted through any convenient gearing. i

The engine drives a couple of toothed pinions which mesh with two toothed crowns provided on the cheeks of the drum. The action of this gear causesthe drum to roll forward or backward, as will be better explained afterward. The vehicle is steered from the interior taking advantage of the form given to'the outer peripheric surface of the drum, which allows the vehicle to be turned to the right or to the left, according to whether the drum is keeled to one side or the other. This conformation of the drums periphery, together with the method for obtaining the inclination of the vehicles body constitutes one essential feature of the present invention.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and carried into effect the same will be more fully described with ref- Patented Apr.12,192 1. i

erence to the accompanying drawings, in

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically in long tudmal section the arrangement ofalvehicle according to the presentinvention.

F g. 2 is a diametral cross section of same.

Fig. 3 shows two different forms of the external rolling surface of the drum.

Figs. 4 and '5 are respectively aside elevatlon' and a horizontal section of a further embodiment of the invention; I i

The vehicle consists of a large external druml, the peripheric or rolling surface of which is partly cylindrical and partly conical or conoid, covered with steel,plates',-or

with any other suitablematerial. "Therolling, surface of said drum may be quite smooth, but, if desired, cross ribs or claws 2, as shown in the drawing, may be provided for the purposes of preventing skidding and securing a better grip, particularly on slippery ground, and when climbing up hill. The two cheeks of the roller have each a circular opening 3, the center of which coin-. CldQS with the drums axis. Said openings are left completely free.

Inside the drum 7 is provi having the shape of a large hollow shaft fitted laterally with projecting collars e which carry two turrets 6 outside the drum.

ded a chambere, V

The hollow shaft has an extension 5 'de- The collars 4. rest rotatably on the rims13 of the openings 3, and conversely, the drum can rotate around the said collars. The movement is facilitated by providing' a ball or roller bearing as shown in the drawing. The collars 4.", the turrets 6, the chamber 4, and the expansion 5 form a single piece completely rigid.

On the sides 7 of the expansion 5 is fixed pending, from it below the axisof the drum.-

a platform 8, on which the motor 15 is mounted. The platform provides also room for the crew inside the vehicle, and. it may likewise be used, as all other free space, for storageof fuel, munitions, and the like.

i The shaft 9 of the motor extends through i V the sides 7 of the expansion. On the ends.

of the shaft are mounted the pinions {'11 whichmesh with two spur gears 12 mounted internally to the flanges '13 of the open:- ings 3. 1 7 1 The turrets 6 may; be given any convenient shape. If they are intended 'for offensive purposes they will be designed so as to provide accommodation for gun-carones 21.

riages or machine gun stands, and will have corresponding loop-holes, and will further more be armored.

The external outline of the said turrets'is better made conical, in order to cause the projectiles striking the drum to rebound.

The above said vehicle works as'follows:

At rest, the platform with all its load hangs'under the drums axle, and by suitably' distributing the weight the said plat form may be kept in the horizontalposition; On starting the motor 15 the pinions 11 will revolve, for instance, in the directionor" the arrow-16, and will'tend to'ca'usethe drum to rotate in the direction of the arrow 17, but

the drum resisting by reason of the friction resistanceonthe soil, will compel the pinions 11 to roll over the spur gear12 thus 7,

raising the platform with-all its load, and hence compelling the vehicles bodyw to turn in' the direction'offthe arrow 18 ,and so roll over the ground advancing Ein'the direction ofthearrow19. V H

Thus the forward movement Of the vehicle is provided for. The direction is yet to be provided for. The vehicleis steered by giving a formipartly cylindrical 20 and partly conical 21 tothe external rolling-sur-v face of the'd rum, as shown in the drawing, 7 and byproviding meanst'o enable the vehicle to be inclined to the ri'g'ht'or to the eft at willirom" tsintef idr. w Said means consist of a heavy weight which may be'shiftedin a cross direction by hand power,or by means of a motor, When 7 the balancing'weightis in the middle plane of the vehicle," the latter advancesjin a straightiline by. rolling on its cylindrical surface 20.

If, however,the weight is shifted to one side the vehicle will keeltoward the same side, and by rolling on the conicalsurit'ace 21 willfturn t'othe right or left. Oni starting once in the new direction, this willbe 1 weight tothe normal position e In Fig. 1, the outline of the'rolling surface appears constituted, as above said, by three zones, a' central cylindrical one 20, and two lateral symmetrical and conical But it will be understood that this outline may be varied. in several ways. 1 o

. In'Fig, 3, by wayof example, other forms --a,and +b are shown.

The ir'orm Va comprises the same cenmaintained by restoring the balancing tr'al cylindricalzone 2O aforesaid, and anyconvenient number of conical and symmetrical zonesl22,- 23 ,otincreasing conicalness, The number of these couples ofconioparts may be large or small at will; In the draw i' ing two are shown byway of example." The other form consists" of a single belt 24; curved symmetrically in cross section by? meansof whicha turning radius gradually variable can be obtained in steering the vehicle.

The curved form I) gives, however, less stability, and would give rise to continual lateral oscillations, with trouble to the crew, and greater difliculty in driving the ve hicle. It is preferable to have a wide cen- V tralcylindrical zone 20, between one or more of gear and finally anchoring'on the ground 'may be resorted to.

p .In order to control thedirection from within, the vehicle is provided with periscopes; 25 proi eating from above the turrets 6, which peri'scop'es", by'means of mirrors'or prisms, allow the inspection of theoutside countryv from the vehi'c les interior, either 'looking'j throughjthe peris cope at 26, as

shown tojtheleftin Fig. 'l,or by means of a mirror 27, as shown to the'right ofthe same figure; The tubes 28 o fsaiid 'periscopesare rotatable oni-their'axesin such away as to enable the inspection of the landscape in any direction; In the line otunio'n of'themoving'thedirection'ofthevisual,V I p V p In some cases"the room leftxfree,in the type of vehicle" above described, for the crew, provisions, and armament proves "rather scanty, and likewise the firing angle of the guns and nachine-guns within the turrets is yery' 'limited, and unless the turrets'project excessively 'out'o'f the sides of the vehicle fbody two dead "angles will recable piece with thefixed one, a graduated circle and a hand are fprovided jfor determin suit on the'anterior and posterior sides of V themoving directiom'and these dead angles are even hidden from the view'of the V ehiclesoccupants. A p V In order'to avoid this inconvenience, 'in military applications,- and lso; for giving more commodious quarters to passengers, as well the possibilityof observing all the ground traversed and'tol bej traversed,ithe

form of'the turrets showninrthesecond embodiment of'the invention and illustrated in eliminated;

In saidfembodiment the turrets while still suspended to the hollow shaft which carries-the motor, are placed one before and V, the other onthe backjof the'vehicle, that is,

in a position diametrically opposed with respect to the drums axle and outside of the latter, and are then connecte'd bet ween each other with suitable frames that pass along the'flanlis of the drum, and outside of same,

7 Figs. 4 and'f zi's employed, whereby; the

aforesaid inconveniences are completely '120 and are attached to the shaft where the latter 'proiects from the twocheeks.

The two turrets thus arranged, havetheir view completely free, and they may be given any size whatever without inconvenience. They however, would remain isolated from each other, and during the journey the persons within them would not be able to communicate with each other, and with the vehicle crew except by electrical or acoustical means.

Even the latter inconvenience may, however, be eliminated by widening the connecting side frames in such a way as to transform them into two sidewalks passing close to the faces of the drum, and communicating with the hollow shaft thus allowing a pas sage between the two turrets in an easy and convenient way.

In a vehicle thus arranged, the internal chamber hanging from the shaft Wlll remain reserved for the engineers watching the mo- I tor, and the commander, the crew, and the passengers would take their places in the turrets and in the side walks,

As will be perceived fromthe drawing, two chambers 30 are formed on the front and rear of the drum, and they, by means of the side walks 31 running along the flanks of the drum, are connected with the hollow shaft 4. Finally the side walks may be widened opposite the openings of the hollow shaft 4, as shown in the drawing, in order to allowroom for two other lateral turrets 6 designed for passengers or for artillery 33. On the other hand, the side walks 31 may be done away with by reducing the connections between the turrets 30 and the shaft with two plain beams running along the drums flanks.

All. the system of turrets and walks is balanced in such way as to keep horizontal like a scale beam suspended to the )shaft, but, in order to facilitate the passage over difficult and unequal ground, wide rollers 32 are provided at the lower portion of the chambers 30, and slightly projecting, which coming into contact with the ground help to facilitate the vehicles running, and, V by means of elastic suspensions, to deaden shocks and to avoid skidding; V V i There may be one roller for each extremity of the vehicle, and in such case itis well to give them a curved or doubly coni cal external surface to tally with'the drums form 1. But there may even be two rollers at each end placed symmetrically with re-V spect to the middle plane, and in such case the double conicalness is not necessary, since each of them acts when the vehicle turns on one side only. r

When artillery '34 be mountedalso in the chambers 30, as seen in the drawing, the

ground may be beaten and surveyed on all 7 sides without dead angles in any direction.

It is adapted for transport of materials in desert localities destitute of communications, where ordinary vehicles could not gain'access. For war purposes it acts by meansof the armed or armored turrets, and, by

advancing over the ground where the enemy V is, it acts through the shock ofits great weight, breaking up'and beating down obstacles, dismaying and carryingaway men and materials, as. well as destroying the enemys means of ofiense and defense.

Claims:

1; In a monocycle vehicle the combina tion of an external drum-shaped rolling body, with the rolling surface convex toward the outside in cross section, and cen tral' openings in the two side cheeks, a

hollow shaft rotatable in the said central openings, turrets outside the drum and carried by the said shaft, a chamber suspended from the said shaft, means of propulsion in said chamber adapted to cause the external drum totrotate and means for inclining the drum on one or the other side. i v

2. In a monocycle vehicle the combination of an external drum-shaped rolling" 7 body with the rolling surface convex toward the outside lIl cross section, and central openings in the two side cheeks, a hollow shaft rotatable in the said central openings, turrets outside the drum and carried by the said shaft, a chamber suspended from the said shaftwithin the drum, means of propulsion in said chamber adapted'to cause the external drum to rotate, means on; the

: shaft for observing outside the drum,; and

means for inclining the drum on one or the other slde.

v In a monocyclevehicle thecombination 7 ofganexternal drum-shaped rolling body with the rolling surface convex toward the outside in cross section, and central open ings'in the two side cheeks,a hollowshaft rotatable in the said central openings, side;

1Z0 rets carried'by said frames fore and aftithe 1 1 V H drum, and means within the rollingibody frames connected to the hollow shaft, tur-f for propelling and steering the vehicle froml the interior. V '5 I" 1 V at, In a'monocycle vehicle the combination" ofan external drum-shaped rolling body ings in the twoside cheeks, a hollowishaft' with the rolling surface convex toward the outside in cross section,- and central open- 7 Within the rolling body and carried by the hollowshaft for propelling and steering the vehicle, turrets carried fore and aft the drum by side frames connected to the hollowshaft and providing side walks for-the communications between the turrets and the interior of the drum. V

5. In a monocycle vehicle the combination of an external drum-shaped rolling body with the rolling surface convex toward the outside in cross section, and central openings in the two side cheeks, a hollow shaft rotatable in said central openings,

7 means within the rolling body and carried by the hollow shaft for propelling and steering the vehlcle, turrets carried fore and aft the drum, side frames connected to the I hollow shaft and supporting the turrets, and widenlngs of said side frames providing room for other lateral turrets.

6. In .a monocycle vehicle the combina tion of an external drum-shaped rolling body with the rollingsurface convex toward the outside in cross section, and cen-' tral openings in the two side cheeks, a hollow shaft rotatable in said central openings, means within the rolling body, and carried by the hollow shaft for propelling and steering the vehicle,turrets carried fore and aft the drum by side frames connected to the hollow shaft, and contact rollers under the fore and aft turret supplying auxiliary support in traveling through difficult ground.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' CARLO POMILIO;

Witnesses: a

LETTERN LABSUETTA, AUGUST 13. EGGENsoHWILE. 

